2 Samuel 11:26-12:1, 7 (Common English Bible)
When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband. After the time of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her back to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. But what David had done was evil in the Lord’s eyes. So the Lord sent Nathan to David.
“You are that man!” Nathan told David.
Broken. David certainly has created quite a mess with his actions leading to further consequences, as 2 Samuel 11 conveys for us in this week’s Old Testament lesson. Adultery. Murder. Darkness and devastation. Evil, as the Lord sees it. But what David has done was evil in the Lord’s eyes. The statement jumps off the page for me, and causes me to stop, to wonder how much anguish the Lord has for David, how much the Lord is disappointed with David’s disruptive behavior. Maybe it’s a bit heavier for me, as I recognize the name…
There’s a great children’s book, No, David! authored and illustrated by David Shannon, based on his writings as a five year-old, which captures what he likely heard a good bit as a youngster. “No, David,” his Mom would say throughout the book, in response to his many actions and antics as a young child. This was an extremely funny book to read when our boys were younger, hearing their laughter as I reflected on my own childhood and my mother’s voice saying, “No, David!” A word of truth Mom would share to correct and protect me as an inquisitive child.
King David had done evil in the Lord’s eyes. So the Lord sent Nathan to David. Nathan shared a parable with David, telling the story of the rich man and a poor man, and how the rich man took the poor man’s “one little ewe lamb,” and shared it with the traveler. As we read the story, we can see where Nathan is leading David. We can imagine David getting angry, for we ourselves get angry with the rich man, Amen?
It’s so easy to see the wrong in others, and so difficult to see the wrong in ourselves. How quick I am to point out the lack of good driving when I am on the road, oblivious to when I cause another driver to have a similar opinion of my own driving. If I think I am such a good driver, then why am I not in NASCAR?! That’s why it is so important for me to have a Nathan in my life. I need, as Belmont President Greg Jones says, holy friends who will “challenge the sins [I] have come to love.”
Who is your Nathan? Who is your holy friend? Who has the courage to speak truth to you, when you most need to hear it? Who will speak, “You are the woman,” or “You are the man,” as Nathan did with David. Who is your Nathan, who is not afraid to call you out and say, “Get your act together, and work on being a bit more holy for the Lord.”
I think there is something very freeing in being confronted with the truth. When Nathan speaks the truth to David, it frees him from holding the lie, of being stuck in sin, and moving him into a place of confession, of seeking repentance, and returning to the Lord. Thanks be to God for the Nathan’s in our lives, who are full of truth and grace.
See you on the road, friends.
Blessings,
David
If you would like to view past editions of Driving with David, follow this link: https://beacondistrictnc.org/category/from-the-ds/